


emergency contact.

by marinaff



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics), Red Robin (Comics)
Genre: Dick Grayson is Trying, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Hurt Tim Drake, Hurt/Comfort, Pre-New 52, Spoiler: He gets one, Tim Drake Needs a Hug, jason Todd is a good bro, tim drake is tired
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-04
Updated: 2020-04-04
Packaged: 2021-02-28 21:46:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,912
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23474173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marinaff/pseuds/marinaff
Summary: Jason did not know when or how or why he was Tim's emergency contact. He tried to kill the boy twice? Thrice? Honestly, he couldn't remember. He wasn't in the right mind then, he sure as hell still not in the right mind now.
Comments: 32
Kudos: 461





	emergency contact.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi!  
> This is my first fan fic so please go easy on my poor unfortunate soul  
> It's been a while since I actually read any of the comics so I'm just getting stuff from the canon I remember and the fan fics that I've been reading recently (mostly the latter lol)  
> So if this is a bit out of character, that's probably why :)

It was around midnight when Jared heard it. A little noise that, if not for the deafening silence, he would not have heard. Who stays at their office at midnight anyway? Everyone is supposed to be home by now. He looked at every surveillance camera in the monitor and not one had anyone in it. That was strange. He sighed. Well, he wasn't getting paid to just slack off, was he. 

He stood up, brushed the crumbs off his beard and replayed the footage again, listening for the same sound. Lo and behold, he heard it again. Apparently it was coming from the top floor, near Mr. Wayne's office. The kid, not the playboy. The kid who was his boss and the boss of everyone else working in this building. He had no idea how they made a 17 year old the CEO of a multibillion dollar company, but Gotham does have its ways. If only there was a security camera in Mr. Wayne's office he could just get this over with, but no, to maintain his privacy, there wasn't any. He sighed again. 

"Hey, Jo? Can you come in here for a bit?" 

Jo gave him a stern look from where she was standing guard over the main entrance, but she came anyway, arms crossed over her chest. 

"What is it this time, Jared?"

"I think I heard something upstairs. I'm gonna check it out. Watch the cameras for me?"

"Do I have a choice?" 

"Well..."

"Alright, whatever. Just be quick."

"Thanks Jo, you're the best."

Jo rolled her eyes and sat in the seat he was occupying. "If it turns out to be nothing, don't be too disappointed." 

"I'll keep that in mind." He says as he made his way to the elevator. 

-

The top floor was as silent as the lobby, but he kept his head held high. He looked over the glass. It isn't every day you get to see a view of Gotham's skyline. He was just about to leave when he heard it again. The little noise. He turned around. 

"Who's there?" 

Nothing. A beat. Then there it was again. It wasn't coming from near Mr. Wayne's office, it was coming from Mr. Wayne's office. He gulped. He had never actually met Mr. Wayne, since he took the night shift after Gary. He'd only seen him on TV. He knew the kid worked hard, if the increase in stocks all the boardmembers were grumbling about was any indication (they were probably pissed that the kid was doing a better job than they were expecting), but he had never actually seen him in the building. 

Hesitantly, he knocked on the office's door. "Mr. Wayne?" Another whimper. He let himself in. 

The kid had his head pillowed on his arms down on the enormous desk, an open laptop in front of him. He looked to be asleep but the constant flinching proved otherwise. Was it nightmares? He was still a kid after all, and a kid who had gone through a lot at that. Strangely, Jared was reminded of his two girls. They were all grown up now, but he still remembered when they had nightmares, they would always wake him up and he'd read to them before they went back to sleep. He smiled. Whatever this bad dream was, he was pretty sure he could still deal with it.

Jared approached him slowly and shook his shoulder. "Mr. Wayne?" He tried again. 

A few stuttering breaths. Still, he wasn't waking up. 

He shook his shoulder again, a little harder this time. "Sir? You need to wake up."

Still nothing. 

"Sir?" 

Then the unexpected happened. One minute he was shaking the boy's shoulder, the next he was pinned to the ground, some sort of staff on his throat. 

"Who are you?" The kid demanded.

"Security, sir." He managed to choke out. 

That seemed to get through him. He let go of the staff. All the tension seemed to have left his body, his shoulders slumping. Jared had no words. His brain was still trying to process what happened. 

"I'm so, so sorry." The kid said. He helped him up, although he looked so tired Jared was surprised that he still had strength to do so. 

"It's fine, sir. I just um, I thought I heard something in here and came to check it out. I wasn't expecting you to be here." -and how you have extremely fast reflexes, he wanted to say.

"What time is it?" He asked, rubbing an eye.

"It's past midnight, Mr. Wayne." 

"Tim."

"Sir?"

"Not Mr. Wayne. Not sir. Tim, please."

"Alright, Tim. I think it's time for you to go home." 

"I'm sorry I caused you trouble."

"Trouble is my job, sir."

The boy- Tim, smiled. It was refreshing considering how exhausted he looked. Bags under his eyes, sunken cheeks, he was too pale to even look like a human being. How is he still standing at this point? 

Tim sat back down on his chair, and gestured for Jared to sit on one of the chairs in front of him. 

"Did you hear me say anything out of the ordinary?" Tim asked.

"Well you were mostly just whimpering and flinching, sir. I couldn't really pick up anything."

A sigh of relief escaped his lips. "Oh good, I thought I was spilling the company's secrets or something.

"Well, if you were, I wouldn't have any use of those."

He chuckled. Then his head lolled dangerously to the side.

"Woah, there-

He barely had time to run to the boy's side before he fell to the floor.

Once again, the kid was unconscious and probably not waking up any time soon. Jared considered what to do, should he take Tim home? He certainly can't just leave the boy alone in his office. Maybe he could ask Jo to hail a cab or something, but he knew Tim had a car and he also couldn't leave it at the parking lot. He spared the kid another glance. He really, really didn't know what to do. 

A phone rang, breaking Jared's train of thought. He looked around, wondering where it came from. It looked to be coming from Tim's desk drawer. Jared wasn't sure if he should answer it, there was no caller ID, so he wasn't sure if this was someone that Tim actually knew. He let the phone ring until it went to voicemail. Now that he had the phone, he should probably call Tim's emergency contact, knowing of course he had one since he was high and mighty and all that, but he was still a kid. He swiped at a button that indicated 'emergency' and waited for someone to answer. 

It hadn't even reached the second ring when someone had answered it. "Sure, you call now that I've taken care of everything. I can't believe you stood me up, Replacement." The voice said. 

"Uh, is- is this Mr. Timothy Wayne's emergency contact?" 

"Who are you and what have you done with Tim? I swear to God if you even think about-"

"No, um- I'm a security guard at WE. He's still here but he's passed out. I think he hadn't been looking at the time. I'm sorry, who are you?"

"His emergency contact, like you said."

"I need a name, sir." 

"Ugh, for crying out loud, Todd Peters. I used to be his bodyguard."

"Used to be?" 

"Yeah, well he needed me after he got shot and after he got better he didn't need me anymore." 

Huh. Made sense. That's probably why he sounds like a criminal.

"Are you going to pick him up?" 

"I need to, don't I?" The voice on the other end chuckled, and it made the hairs on Jared arm stand up. "Alright, I'll be there in 5. Take him to the lobby." The voice hung up. 

He did as he was told, carrying the kid bridal style all the way down the lobby. He did not like where this was going, but he had no other choice, and the man on the phone did seem to sound concerned. The elevator doors opened, and Jo jumped up from her seat when she noticed him hauling their CEO. 

"What the fuck?" She all but whispered.

"Kid's had a long night." He said, and lay Tim down on the sofa at the lobby. 

"Man, no wonder the stock market's been soaring lately. This kid's been working his ass off." Jo mused. 

"Hey, did you know he had a body guard when he was shot?" 

"I dunno, we both work the night shift. It's not like we see him every day either. Honestly though, if he had one, I'd imagine the dude would be discrete. Kinda like a blend in the shadows type of guy, ya know?"

"Why?"

"Well, the kid seems like the complete opposite of his dad. Brucie Wayne is all glitz and glam, but not him." She said, pointing to Tim. "He's more of a discrete guy and I bet he would keep company that's like him. Though it would be very good company, like if he sees something threatening the kid, he'd beat that dude down before he could touch a hair on him." 

Jared raised an eyebrow. "You seem to know a lot about all this socialite shit than I do."

"Well, Vickie Vale does have interesting stories and they only air in the mornings. Why do you think I work the night shift?" 

Jared chuckled at that. "I just didn't peg you for the gossipy type." 

Jo rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Is someone picking him up?" 

"Yeah, he'll be here in a minute." 

Jo walked back to the console where the cameras were and left him to their boss. 

He looked at the boy sleeping peacefully on the sofa, looking like it was the first time he slept in years. Man, he was still just a kid. Sometimes he was envious of all the rich running around in their expensive shit, but he did remember that wealth must've come from somewhere, and most of them had to work their asses off to get that. He respected that about them, somehow. 

But Tim had to grow up too fast. He knew that his parents had passed, and that's why he was with Wayne, but it still felt wrong. He didn't know all the details but he did know that if the kid hadn't taken up the position, he wouldn't have a job right now. 

A revving motorcycle interrupted his thoughts and he went outside. The motorcycle skidded to a stop in front of him, and the driver took his helmet off. He looked to be around his early 20s, a white streak in his hair. He was also wearing a leather jacket with some questionable stains on it.

"Todd Peters?" He asked. 

"That's me. Where's the kid?"

Jared hesitated. "I don't think you can ride a motorcycle and haul Mr. Wayne at the same time."

"No shit, Sherlock." He said, as he stepped inside the lobby; Jared hot on his heels. He pushed the doors for them to enter, and Todd wasted no time waiting for him. He made his way to the sofa and crouched down. A concerned look on his face. He shook his head. "God, Replacement. You never know when to stop, do you?" 

"Why do you call him that?" Jared asked, making the bodyguard jump. Todd seemed to have forgotten that he was there. 

"An inside joke. You got his keys?" Todd asked.

He fished it out of his pocket, together with Tim's phone and gave it to the bodyguard, who put it in his pocket. "Great, thanks. Ooh goodie, the jaguar." He grumbled before picking Tim up from the sofa. Jared ran over to help him, but Todd waved him off. "Thanks for finding him up there." Was all he said before disappearing with Tim to the parking lot downstairs. 

"What about your- never mind." 

"I'm guessing that was the bodyguard?" Jo asked. 

"Yeah. That was the bodyguard."

"He looked so familiar. I think I've seen him before." 

"Well he's gone now, and he left his bike outside."

"What? There aren't any bikes outside?" 

Jared went outside to check. Sure enough, the revving motorcycle had gone. Where to Jared didn't know.

-  
Jason did not know when or how or why he was Tim's emergency contact. He tried to kill the boy twice? Thrice? Honestly, he couldn't remember. He wasn't in the right mind then, he sure as hell still not in the right mind now. 

He wasn't sure where he was going. Should he go to the manor? Probably not, he knew there was something wrong around the edges, with him not being Robin anymore. Jason didn't really know what happened when Bruce was gone, but he knew Tim stormed off and went searching and no one went with him because they all thought he was nuts. Then he showed up with Bruce, slapping everyone in the face with how right he was, and bolted. He worked with Tim every now and then, (they were supposed to bust a drug ring together tonight) but he didn't really know where the kid's apartment was, since they met in safehouses and the occasional random cafe. Maybe he could go to Bludhaven and drop Tim off at Dick's? Wait no, Dick was Batman when Damian started as Robin so he maybe was part of the reason Tim was upset? Besides, the 'haven was a long drive. The jaguar he was driving did not make it easy at all too. It's not that he hated it, but it was the worst of Bruce's cars in his opinion. Maybe a safehouse? No, none of those have parking spaces. Which left the only option to be his apartment. Oh, joy. 

He made a hard right, and navigated his way into the countless alleys of Gotham. After much twisting and turning, he made it to his apartment building and parked the jaguar out back. Tim had not stirred one bit, and it was starting to make Jason worry. He opened the car door and fished his little brother out of it. Another thing that worried him was how light Tim was, weren't kids supposed to get bigger as they grew older? He climbed up the steps, careful not to jostle his little brother awake. Who knew how long he hasn't slept properly. 

Keeping his pace steady, he reached his door and fumbled his keys into the lock. Thankfully, he hadn't run into anyone. It would be hard to explain why he was carrying the CEO of Wayne Enterprises to his apartment. He carefully dumped him on the couch, razor sharp suit still on. That was probably enough big brother-ing for tonight.

He was ready to turn in when he saw the red stain on his shirt. "The hell?" He whispered. He looked back to Tim on the couch, there was a dark stain on his suit as well. Jason made quick work of shucking Tim's suit jacket and unbuttoning his button up (ha ha). There was a bandage on Tim's torso, soaked in blood. It wasn't enough for him to bleed out but it was enough to bleed through his shirt and suit. 

"Geez Replacement, you had to ruin my favorite shirt." Jason grumbled as he fetched the first aid kit from the kitchen. 

He still did not like this one bit. Wasn't Dick supposed to be the big brother in the family? Why was he the one doing this? Why was he even doing this? 

Tim stirred while Jason was bandaging him up. He hadn't opened his eyes, but Jason knew he wasn't asleep anymore so he tightened the bandage a bit to make the kid flinch.

"Ow! What was that for?" Tim asked. He looked exhausted, as if the mere act of talking was tiring him out. 

"That was for making me think of a cover story on the fly before picking you up out of your damn office. Why am I your emergency contact anyway?"

"I don't know. It's an algorithm. It changes every few hours." Tim slurred, his eyes hazy. "Hey, can you grab my contacts case out of my pocket?"

Jason did so, and watched him take his contacts out of his eyes. Oh. So he wasn't special. It was just an algorithm! Still Tim trusted him enough to put him on the roster of people in his emergency contacts. He didn't know what to feel about that.

"Thanks." Tim said, his voice barely a whisper.

Jason finished bandaging him up. "Yeah well, you should thank that security guard who found you upstairs. Does Bruce even know that you're running yourself dry over his company?"

Tim sighed. Ok, that wasn't something he should have said. "I don't know, Jason. It's not like he would care anyway."

"Oh, oof. Newsflash little bro, I'm the only one in this family who gets to talk shit about Batdad." 

Tim giggled, and it was a sound that Jason could get used to more often. He quirked an eyebrow. "What's so funny?"

"I can't believe you called him Batdad." Tim laughed but it ended as soon as he winced in pain. 

"Replacement, I swear if you bleed through that bandage again, I am not fixing you up. I'll be back with some clothes so stay put." 

"M'kay." 

Jason was sure that Tim had drifted off the moment he left him on the couch. He rummaged his drawers for some clothes.

It's not like he would care anyway.

That still haunted Jason because it sounded exactly like something he would say, but not Tim. Never Tim. Now he was getting curious. 

Dick owed him big time for letting him do his mother henning job.

-  
Jason was startled awake at the sound of a scream. Did Mr. Romney find another mouse? He was going to pester Jason about it later. Though Mr. Romney lived downstairs, and he could've sworn the scream sounded nearer. Maybe he could ask Tim about it. Oh wait, Tim.

Jason rushed to his bedroom to find a very disoriented Replacement.

"Tim?" Jason asked, approaching the bed slowly. The kid was breathing rapidly, his chest heaving up and down like it ran a mile. His eyes were shiny with tears. "What happened? Do you want to talk about it?" 

Tim shook his head.

Without thinking, Jason grabbed Tim's hand and just held it. They let the silence pass between them for quite some time. Once again, Jason didn't know what to do. He knew how to comfort someone after a nightmare but he wasn't really sure if Tim would appreciate that, being independent and all.

"Jason?" Tim asked, his voice sounded so, so small. 

He pried his gaze away from Tim's hand and forced himself to look at the kid. "Uh, Yes?" 

"Was I- was I a bad Robin?" 

Jason was shocked. "Why would you even ask that?"

Tim kept crying. He was a silent crier, but his tears just wouldn't stop coming. Jason used his other hand and wiped the tears off of Tim's face. "I was never even supposed to be Robin. I was- was never good enough. I wasn’t wanted." 

Oof, okay. Jason’s heart broke a little. "Kid, you were the best Robin! Probably even better than Dick or I ever was."

"Then why?"

"Why?" Jason prompted.

"Why was it taken away from me? Dick just gave Robin to Damian and he didn't even think how I'd feel. Why was my dad taken away from me? Steph? Bart? Kon? Bruce? They came back, sure, but they were gone for so long. They didn't even- it wasn't even their fault. They died. What's stopping them from dying again? I've lost so so much, Jason. I don't want to lose anything else. I'm so tired of losing everything. Now everyone acts like nothing even happened and it hurts. I tried so hard to make it seem like everything is fine, but it isn’t really, and- and it just, hurts, you know? I don't want to be hurt anymore. I don't want to live anymore if everyone's going to leave me then come back then leave me again. Please, please make it stop." Tim sobbed.

Jason couldn't take it anymore. He pulled Tim into an embrace, guiding Tim's head to rest on his shoulder. He rubbed circles on his back to comfort him. God, the kid was shaking so bad. He couldn't really say anything to make him feel better. What was he supposed to say anyway? It'll be okay? I'm sorry? None of that could compensate for the shit the kid had to go through. So Jason just let him cry on his shoulder, while he absentmindedly carded his fingers through Tim's sweaty hair. He rocked them back and forth and hummed. 

It took about an hour for Tim to cry everything out and his shoulder was soaked. He continued to hum, trying to lull Tim to sleep. Apparently, it had been working or Tim was just too tired at that point, but not a few minutes after crying, he passed out on Jason. Carefully, he lay Tim down on the bed and sighed. What had he gotten himself into?

-  
It was morning when Tim came to. The next morning. The IV drip Jason had put on his arm still going. He hadn't dared wake the Replacement up after that emotional rollercoaster. Then Dick nearly broke the window with an escrima stick. 

It was earlier that same morning. Like, really really early. Tim had gone a day without stirring and he figured that he'd patrol for the both of them. Jason had just finished patrolling and he'd been storing his guns away when he heard a thud outside. He caught Nightwing trying to break the window's notch and invited him inside. 

"Where's Tim?" Dick all but shouted.

Jason fought the urge to shoot the guy. He peered at the bedroom and noticed the figure on the bed had not moved. He raised a finger to his lips to shut Nightwing up and used his other hand to point to the bedroom with the door slightly ajar. 

Luckily Dick got the message and sheathed the escrima stick on his back. Jason motioned for him to sit on the island while he made some tea, occasionally letting his eyes drift to the bedroom. He settled their mugs down on the counter and poured out the tea. 

Dick was watching him with a very disgruntled expression, which he could make out even when the older had the domino on. 

"No, I did not kidnap him. If that's what you're thinking." 

Dick raised an eyebrow. "Well given past events, I find that very unlikely. Leave Timmy out of your business. Whatever you want, it's not worth it."

"I want him to get better. Do you think that's not worth it?"

"Get better? Tim's not sick-"

"Might as well be, with all the shit he's been through. Look man, I don't know the details but he's nearly dead at this point and I can't believe none of you noticed. Why did you come here anyway?"

"For Tim! Obviously!" 

Jason forced himself to calm down. Dick was really pressing his buttons now. "Think long and hard, Dickwad. Tell me why you came here now. Not yesterday, not the last night when Tim was passed out in his office, or that morning when he woke up from a frakking nightmare asking me; me of all people, if he was a good Robin. Think long and hard. You weren't here for Tim." 

"How could you say that? Tim's my brother!"

"Then why haven't you been acting like you are!" Jason shot back. 

"I am! I was worried! He wasn't on patrol for two days-"

"There! There it is! You were worried because he wasn't on patrol? Like patrol is more important than your own brother? I guess you've been Batman for too long that you see him as a soldier now, huh?" He set his mug down on the counter.

"Jason-"

"And you even replaced him! Kicked him out like chopped liver!-"

"Damian needed Robin!"

"And Tim needed something stable in his life because he already lost too much and you took that away from him too! How could you do that to him?" 

"I messed up. I know. I just- I was so worried when he left to find Bruce but I couldn't do anything about it because I couldn't leave Damian-" Dick shouted.

"Dick." Movement. A twitch.

"The kid was raised by assassins! He lost his dad! Of course he was going to be upset and kill people! I couldn't let him do that!-" 

"Dick. Shut up." Man, if that was another nightmare

"God, it was so hard to keep everything together! Do you think it was easy for me? I-"

"Dick!" Jason hissed before nearly sprinting the short distance to his bedroom. 

Tim was twitching and flinching and mumbling in his sleep. Jason shook him gently. "Timbo?"

Dick was by the door. "What-" 

"Well at least there's no screaming this time." Jason grumbled. He lifted Tim's shirt and checked the bandage. He hadn't bled through it. Yet. He shook his shoulder harder. "Come on, Replacement." 

The flinching stopped. Tim cracked an eye open. "Jason?"

"The one and only. You don't want to talk about it?"

Tim shook his head. 

Jason took this as a cue to do the exact same thing he did the morning before. Hug the kid, guide his head on to his shoulder, stroke his hair, and hum. Preferably in that order, until Tim fell asleep. There were no tears this time, and he could feel Tim relaxing little by little. He was starting to get through to him. Whatever the Replacement was hiding, he'd know.

He could feel Dick's eyes on him. Aware that his older brother's jaw had dropped open. He didn't care. He just wanted to comfort his Replacement. Who also got replaced and was hurting without anybody realizing. He had no idea how or why but now he felt like he had a responsiblity to the kid. God, am I really turning into a big brother?

Once Jason was sure that Tim had passed out, he lowered Tim down on the bed. He pulled the blanket all the way to Tim's chin and patted the boy's head. 

"That was not what I was expecting." Dick said, finally managing to recover from what he had just witnessed. 

Jason rolled his eyes. "I really did stop trying to kill him a long time ago." 

"I can't believe you had a big brother epiphany."

"Quit changing the subject." Jason sighed. "Look, there only details I have are you replacing him with a demon spawn, losing and getting back people he's already lost, Bruce not giving a shit, and how much it still hurts him. All of that in one emotional rollercoaster of crying and ruining my favorite shirt. He's clearly working himself to the brink of death trying to forget everything that he's gone through. I know it wasn't easy for you, becoming Batman and taking care of a psycho assassin but you seem to be moving on great. Meanwhile, your brother dearest over here? Not so much. So stop making excuses and apologize when he wakes up and- don't look at me like that! Are you crying?"

Instead of answering, Nightwing launched himself onto him and hugged him to the point of no return. 

-  
"So, when did this happen?" Dick prompted. 

"Well, a security guard at WE called me 2 nights ago using Tim's phone. I thought he was calling to apologize for standing me up at the drug ring we were supposed to take down but nah. The guy said I was his emergency contact. " Jason said.

They were sitting in the living room now, tea already cold. The sun was already coming up. Emotional rollercoaster part two left the both of them questioning what to do.

"You're Tim's emergency contact?" 

"Tim said it was part of an algorithm that changed every few hours." 

"This was in his personal phone?"

"Yeah. Why would he carry the night job phone to work? Wait, do we still have night job phones? Or do we just do comms now?"

"Comms mostly. He never even gave me his number. Jason I am such an asshole!"

"No, you're a dick."

"Haha. Very funny."

"I'm not wrong."

"Right. So, um- after that what happened?"

"The security guard, Jenkins I think was his name, carried Timbo down the lobby and waited for me. I told him I used to be Tim's bodyguard and the dude totally bought it. So I drove the Jaguar here because I didn't think he was all good with you guys and yeah. That's how I ended up with him."

"You patched him up too."

"Duh."

"I still can't believe Tim has you in his personal phone! That's like VIP or something!"

"Well you probably would've been in it too if you didn't leave him for dead." 

"I did not do that."

"You kinda did. Well whatever, you fix your own issues."

Dick kept silent. His eyebrows furrowed in worry. 

"You need to fix this, Dick. If not, we might be losing another Robin real soon and this time, you won't get him back."

"I'll apologize." 

Jason nodded. If there was one thing Tim deserved, it was that.


End file.
